‘Incentives needed to boost electric motorcycle market’

TEHRAN — The provision of financial incentives is a requirement to promote the use of electric motorcycles in the country, Tehran city councilor Shahrbano Amani has said.

Over a session held on Thursday Amani explained that allotting budget in the form of incentives will certainly persuade the buyers to purchase electric motorcycles which are costlier than gasoline-powered ones.

Following the measures taken by various responsible organization regarding the abatement of emissions and fighting air pollution in Tehran the city council have held a meeting with electric motorcycle domestic manufacturers and importers to arrive at solutions to replace eco-friendly electric motorcycles with older and high emission, carbureted models.

Replacing gasoline-powered motorcycles with green electric motorcycles is a “primary concern” for Tehran city council, Mehr news agency quoted Amani as saying. “In a collaborative attempt with the administration and the municipality we are striving to mobilize incentive payments and gain cooperation from Ministry of Industry to surmount and remove obstacles for manufacture and import of the electric motorcycles.”

To fight the choking air pollution-being blamed partly on highly pollutant vehicles- production of carbureted motorcycles, which account for more than 19 percent of pollutants in the capital, was halted in Iran since September 2016.

The carbureted motorcycles are mandated to be replaced with fuel injection and electric motorcycles.

Fuel injection generally increases engine fuel efficiency. Exhaust emissions are cleaner because the more precise and accurate fuel metering reduces the concentration of toxic combustion byproducts leaving the engine. The more consistent and predictable composition of the exhaust makes emissions control devices such as catalytic converters more effective and easier to design.

Even cleaner options are electric motorcycles. Electric motorcycles offer several benefits over gasoline-powered vehicles when it comes to air pollution, noise pollution, fuel source, and climate change. Because their fuel is electricity rather than gasoline, electric motorcycles use no oil or gasoline and emit none of the exhaust fumes that cause air pollution and smog.

Furthermore, as per the clean air law, adopted by the Iranian parliament on July 16, 2017, all homegrown, ecofriendly, zero-emission hybrid and electric cars and motorcycles are subjected to exemption from value added tax (VAT). Additionally import duty on hybrid and electric cars and motorcycle are removed as well.